Up All Night (6 AM)
by ImJudyGarland
Summary: One shot for the 5 WORD Challenge. This time Jess is the one who gets injured during a football game with the guys.


Nick sat nervously, pushing his thumbs repeatedly over the sides of his clenched fists, unable to stop jiggling his legs up and down. He had been sitting in the emergency waiting room for over two hours, waiting for word on Jess' condition. He had already been to the reception desk about eight times, trying to get something, anything out of the close-lipped nurses. All he had gotten from them were the words _patient privacy_. When he finally got them to check that he was on her list of emergency contacts, they had relented a little and told him she was getting a Catscan, and the doctor would let him know when they could see her.

He had known it was a bad idea, letting her in on their monthly game of touch football/pancake breakfast at IHOP. Jess had heard the word pancakes and insisted on being included. "Come on you guys. Just because I'm a girl, I get excluded from all-you-can-eat pancake day? _Pas juste_, Miller!"

"Jess, you know I hate it when you throw French phrases into everyday conversation. How can I be sure you didn't just call me something really creepy?" Nick had known arguing with her was futile. And after volleying a few more protests in her direction, he had given in and let her come along. In an ironic twist, Jess had gotten injured at the same park where Nick had hurt his back last year. Jess and Schmidt had both run for the ball at the same time, both jumping up to grab it, both colliding heads with each other instead. Oddly, Schmidt had seemed fine and unaffected by the blow. "Hard head," Nick had muttered.

"Nick Miller?" a nurse wearing burgundy scrubs now appeared in the doorway of the emergency room. Nick immediately bolted up out of his chair and ran over to the reception desk. "How is she? Is Jess okay? Can I see her now?"

"She's fine. The doctor belives it's only a concussion. You can come back now, one person at a time." Nick started walking, then turned back to glance at Winston and Schmidt. "Go ahead man, we'll be here."

Jess sat slumped down, looking puny on the hospital bed in the ER. Nick quickly moved to the side and grabbed her hand. "Hey, Jess. How you feeling?" Jess winced at the sound of his voice. "Oops, sorry, does your head hurt a lot?" Jess sat with her eyes scrunched up and rubbed her temples with her fingers. She glanced slowly up at Nick, confusion clouding her expression. "Yeah, it's really pounding. Nick, what happened? I can't remember anything." Nick started to silently freak out.

"Don't worry, memory loss is not unusual with concussions," the nurse explained. "The doctor will explain more."

As if on cue, the doctor walked into the room and began talking to Jess softly and calmly. "Well, your CT was normal, no bleeding or severe trauma to the brain. Concussions are fairly common, but that doesn't mean they can't become serious if you don't take proper care with them."

"What exactly does that mean, doc? Is she gonna be ok?" Nick was anxious for answers to calm his jittery mind.

"She should be just fine. Rest is the most important thing. Avoid any sports related or vigorous activities for the next few weeks. Try to keep yourself from stressful situations and anything that requires prolonged mental involvement for the near future. It's important to let your brain heal. Any heavy or jarring activity could cause a subsequent concussion to occur, which can be very serious. Brain bleeds can happen easily after multiple concussions. But, don't panic, just take it easy. I'm releasing you, but you need rest. I recommend you sleep tonight, but periodically have someone wake you, just as a safety measure, to make sure there are no ill effects. Do you have someone who can stay with you, keep an eye on you for the tonight?"

"Yep. Me. I'll do it. I mean, I'm her roommate, I'll be there, I'll keep watch over her." Of everything the doctor just said, Nick had focused on the negative parts. The words _brain bleed_ made him want to jump out on the window ledge. But he wasn't panic moonwalking away from her this time. He was determined to watch her like a hawk the entire night. He just wanted Jess to be ok again.

Afternoon had turned into night by the time Jess was released from the hospital and on her way home. Nick normally would've complained loudly about how long they were taking with the discharge paperwork, but he was too preoccupied with concern over Jess. He had silently appointed himself as her keeper today. Nothing was going to happen to her on his watch. Nick gingerly walked Jess into the loft, holding her arm and guiding her to the couch. Getting her from the car to the loft was a challenge, as her equilibrium was all out of whack. She sat down slowly. "That's it, take it easy. Be still. I'm gonna make you some tea." Nick kept looking back at her as he worked in the kitchen, heating water for tea, looking for something healthy to eat in their almost bare cupboards.

"It's ok Jess. We're here now. We got this." Schmidt and Winston came in the front door, Schmidt announcing their participation in what he had instantly dubbed "Operation Night featuring DJ Jazzy Day," and stating his intentions of keeping Jess in a state of "non-sexual arousal" for the night.

"JAR!" Nick hollered, and immediately covered his mouth. Jess groaned from her place on the couch and rubbed her head.

"What in the hell does that even mean, Schmidt?" Winston whispered, getting Nick's cue to shut up. He was constantly amazed at Schmidt's ability to coin the most offensive, yet appropriate phrases in any given circumstance.

Nick kept his annoyed face on, "It means we have to keep waking Jess up for the night, or at least for the next 6 hours or so. Rest is important, but it's super important that we keep checking to make sure she can be woken up from sleep tonight."

"It's ok Nicholas, I am all good...up in here. My head hurts a lot, that is true. Kinda feels like little bitty swwwordfish getting all swimmy in my head. But its coolness. Total coolness. Yeaaaah." Jess words were slurred and sluggishly delivered. She leaned over the side of the couch and reached in her knitting basket, picking up a wad of yarn and looking at it like she had never seen fuzzy string before. "Was I knitting something earlier? I'm gonna knit you a snappy new hat, Winston. You're gonna looove it." She sat still for a minute and let her head drop down to her chest. "Right after a little nap." She slumped against the throw pillows and closed her eyes.

"What is wrong with her, Nick, she's making even less sense than usual. Is this normal?" Winston leaned in closer and studied Jess' face, which currently appeared hazy and slightly drunk. "You didn't down that bottle of rum from the backseat of Nick's car did you, Jess?"

"It's all part of concussions, man" Schmidt explained, holding up the pamphlet the doctor had given them. "These are all common symptoms: headache (check), confusion (check) sensitivity to light and noise (check), slurred speech (check). It says here it can actually mimic symptoms of being drunk. Extreme fatigue, irritability and personality changes, even amnesia and memory loss." Schmidt put the paper down and leaned in closer to Jess, studying her mannerisms. "My name is SCHHHHMIDDTTTT, remember me Jess? Remember our hot night at the L.A. Hilton last week, baby?"

"Jar, Schmidt, jar right now," Nick warned him in a harsh whisper.

"I remember everything except the accident. All I remember is driving to the park, then laying down down down in the hospital bed..." Jess leaned back against the couch, exhausted at even attempting to think about something she had no recollection of. "The doctor said that is also typical of concussionals, confusionists...constructionnnnns."

Nick brought over the tea and vanilla Oreos he had scrounged up, and set them on the coffee table. They hadn't been to the grocery yet that week, so this was the best he could come up with. He sat next to Jess. She smiled up into his face and giggled slightly. "You're cute. Don't you guys think Nick is cute? Look at that messssy hair and scuffy face." Nick reached over and held onto her hands, attempting to steady her as she slightly rocked back and forth. She looked down at his hands on her. "And your hands," Jess cooed, "Have you guys seen this man's hands? Seeeeeeexy. You could do some mean Karate Kid moves with those hands. Wax on, wax off..." Jess trailed off and leaned her head against the side of the couch.

"Wow Nick, I've never seen her this messed up. Even that night she had six glasses of pink wine, three batmans shots and a diet cuba libre." That night Jess had jumped up on the bar and did an impromptu strip tease with only her jacket and gloves for the guys and Joe, a bar regular. Winston now laughed at Nick as he rolled his eyes, and Nick put the cup of tea in Jess' hands, softly ordering her to drink. Then he gave her three cookies one at a time, making sure she at least had something in her stomach. After her third cookie she leaned down onto a throw pillow and dozed off.

"We have to keep waking her up." Nick sighed deeply, unnerved by the situaton, but determined to do what needed to be done. "It's 11pm now. We'll let her sleep til 1am, then we'll just keep checking every hour or two. Doctor's orders, and we are following them exactly." Nick wasn't taking any chances where Jess' health and saftey were concerned. He watched her for a few minutes, noting her even but shallow breathing. She lay quietly snoozing again. Nick noting the rise and fall of her chest. Just making sure. He focused back on the sports channel he was watching and exhaled heavily. He was so tired. Physical and emotional exhaustion became too much and he eventually nodded off.

The next thing he knew, he woke up to a loud infomercial about bathroom cleaner. Right away he looked at Jess. She lay there silent and unmoving. Schmidt and Winston had fallen asleep also. Nick turned and looked at the clock: 3 am. AGH! He jumped over to her on the couch and shook her firmly, "Jess? Jees? JESS?" She flinched and woke with a start. "WHAT? Niiick? What are you doing? Uhhh, my head, why does my head hurt so baaaad?" Nick's calmed down a little, now that he saw Jess was awake and safe.

Schmidt turned over from his place on the chair and complained, "Damnit, Nick, some of us need our beauty/body rejuvenating sleep!"

Nick reached over and smacked Schmidt across the head. "Ya dummy, we're supposed to be watching over Jess. Instead we all fell asleep on the job. Who knows what could've happened? That's it, I'm making coffee." Nick got up and went off to the kitchen to brew the strongest pot of Maxwell House he knew how. On the way his head got tangled in a windchime Jess had made the weekend before. Blue and yellow colored metal hung from rods in the shape of birds, each one had one of their names written on it in loopy script. It hung from one of the low hanging loft rafters. Nick grabbed it quickly to stop the tinkling noise from bothering Jess.

Schmidt annoyed at being woken, decided to help. He leaned over and whispered, "Jess? You might not know this, but Nick is Santa Claus. Yep, it's true. He's grumpy most of the time, but that's just because the pressures of toy manufacture/distribution can be very taxing. But don't worry, he'll be raring to go come Christmas Eve. I just thought you should know, you are dating Father Christmas now. Better get ready for some weird bedroom stuff, and the subsequent years of therapy that will result." Schmidt cracked up at himself, while Jess looked at him in awe. "That's it Schmidt, get out of here right now. Messing with Jess in her mental state might seem fun to you, but it's not helping, and it's really pissing me off now." Nick was not in the mood for Schmidt's special brand of condescending humor.

Jess tried to sit upright, but appeared wobbly. She held her head in her hands and moaned. "Seriously, what happened guys? I'm starting to remember...a wedding...were we at a wedding? And I was trying to keep Schmidt away from Daisy, because she's Winston's girlfrie...SCHMIDT. SHAAME on you! How could you do that to Winston? Alright, get outside, riiiiiight now, I'm kickin your aaaass! Mooove it mister!" Jess attempted to get up, but dizziness circled her head and nausea began to kick in. "Ooooooh...I'm gonna throw up." Jess instantly puked all over the coffee table, then slowly laid herself back down on he couch and leaned against the back of it.

"Ewwww! Nick, do something! She spewing out vomit and lies at the speed of sound here." Nick ran over, bringing a wet towel from the sink and lightly running it across her forehead as Jess laid helplessly on the couch and moaned.

"I don't like it Schmidt, she's throwing up now? Talking about situations that never happened. We're taking her back to the hospital" Nick started to get up off the couch, when Schmidt grabbed Nick's wrist and brought him back down the the sofa.

"Nick, you gotta relax, man. These are symptoms of concussions that are listed in the papers they gave us. I heard everything the discharge nurse told Jess. Confusion and behavior changes are all part of it. Nausea and vomiting can happen too, but it's nothing to worry about unless she keeps doing it repeatedly, like all night. She just mainly needs sleep."

Nick scooted up on the couch, "I'm staying awake the rest of the night. You guys go to bed. I'm not leaving her alone." Schmidt and Winston didn't protest. They both strode off to their bedrooms, leaving Nick with a very precarious Jess.

"Thanks Nicholas for taking care of me. I know you have a lot of dances to do tonight with rich old women at the main house. Just don't do the lift with them, ok? That's OOOOOUR move. We'll do our dance number at the hotel and then we'll go back to your cabin for sexy times and then we'll do the lift in front of everybody. We'll show em, Nicky. I will not be letting them put you in a corner, aaaanymore..." Jess leaned over slightly, exhaustion claiming her. He really needed to find that dvd and burn it. Nick caught her head and brought it down gently to rest on his lap. He stroked her hair as she slept, watching her face relax as she rested.

Nick sipped his strong-enough-to-walk-out-of-here-by-itself coffee, and watched tv, while Jess slept. She hadn't moved for the last hour or so, but her constant steady breathing reassured him that she was ok. The fact that she was laying in his lap was giving him a feeling of control. He had felt so helpless when she had gotten hurt today. Panic took over when he saw that she was acting lethargic and disoriented. Fearing a stroke or worse, he had insisted on taking her to the ER. Watching her disappear around the corner with the nurse when they had first arrived at the hospital was agonizing. The fact that she was now home, safe and lying in his arms gave him comfort and made him all kinds of warm. His mind was gently toying with the idea that she had suggested "sexy times" with him. Even though it was a movie plot she was describing, and she was not in her right mind, he let himself think about what a night with her might be like. It was definitely not the first time he thought about it. In fact, you could probably put that number well up into the hundreds by now.

He leaned down beside her, letting his body position match hers on the couch. She shifted and looked drowsily up at him. She appeared a little confused at first, then her eyes relaxed as they began to focus on his. They stayed that way for a moment before Jess moved her head up slightly and gently brushed her lips against his. It was slow and achingly sweet. Nick pressed his lips back onto hers. They drew apart, Jess trying to zero in on his eyes again, which she was successful at for about 3 seconds before she dropped back down onto him, her head resting against his shoulder. She put her right arm around his waist and breathed out a slow breath on his neck. "G'night Miller..."

The next morning, Jess seemed tired, but more like her normal self. Nick was relieved that she was safe, but a little nervous to find out if she remembered the kiss. If she did, she wasn't letting on. He had kept replaying it in his head for the rest of the night, wondering if there were any real emotions behind it. They had already discussed the fact that they were attracted to each other. But after that night where he declared himself her non-fluffer, the subject was seemingly forgotten. He looked at her, sitting at the kitchen table stirring her tea. "Hey Nick, thanks for taking care of me last night. I really appreciate it. What would I do without you?" She smiled up at him before walking carefully down the hall to ther room and closing the door.

"Well, I guess things will be getting back to normal now." Nick sighed and walked off to the kitchen to grab and beer, then headed to his own room for a few hours of catch-up sleep. Who was he kidding, he wouldn't be sleeping. He'd be wide awake...and dreaming.

Jess sat on her bed in her room, her fingers running back and forth across her lips. She had kissed him. And he kissed her back. It seemed crazy now just how natural it had felt to her then. Afterwards he had put his arms around her and held her close as she fell asleep. Last night had been a blur, but that was a moment she would not be forgetting. Her body had trembled with the resurfacing attraction she had felt standing next to him in the kitchen that morning. She had managed to pass it off as side effects of the concussion. She sat on her bed now, the what-ifs circling in her tired brain. She tucked them away as she slid under her covers and drifted off. A certain pair of brown eyes were her last memory as she fell into a sweet sleep.


End file.
